Various pollution control technologies have been implemented to control emissions from fossil fuel burning facilities, such as fossil fuels which are used for power generation. The pressurized fluidized bed combustion (PFBC) technology is being developed to utilize wet waste coal for highly efficient power generation with minimal emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and mercury. However, as with other power generation processes that utilize fossil fuels, PFBC produces carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The upcoming CO2 regulation will require new carbonaceous fuel burning power plants to have means for CO2 capture. Thus, the readiness to capture these CO2 emissions will dictate the viability of applying the PFBC technology on a commercial scale to utilize wet waste coal or other carbonaceous fuels for power generation.
Currently, the only presently commercially used technology for carbon capture known to the inventor, that is potentially suitable for the pressurized PFBC process, is the Benfield technology that is owned by UOP Inc. In that process, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,496,371 and elsewhere, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide and other acid gas components are removed from a hydrocarbon containing vapor steam by absorption into a pressurized aqueous potassium carbonate solution. However, even though the pressure at which the Benfield process operates would be compatible with the PFBC process, some other process conditions, such as the maximum allowable temperature for the CO2 capturing agent and the level of SO2, and NOx, prevent the Benfield process from being readily adaptable for use with PFBC technology. Thus, to efficiently utilize carbonaceous fuels for power generation there is a need for an effective interface between the PFBC technology and pressurized carbon capture technology, such as the Benfield technology.
There is also a need for efficient power generation facilities to be capable of capturing pollutants that would be emitted from combustion gas such as carbon dioxide. There is a further need for such power generation facilities to have low emissions of sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide and particulate matter.